U.S. Economic News
March 26, 2018
U.S. Economic Indicators
The Chicago Fed National Activity Index rose from +0.02 (revised) in January to +0.88 in February. The production, sales, and employment components made positive contributions while the personal consumption & housing component contributed negatively. Chicago Fed Report
U.S. News
The Wall Street Journal reports that refinancings made up only 37% of mortgage originations in 2017 — down from 72% in 2012 and the lowest rate in over two decades. The sharp decline in refinancing activity has proved a drag on the U.S. housing market amid rising interest rates, as new mortgage originations have failed to make up for weak growth, resulting in a 12% overall decline in mortgage activity. WSJ
According to Richard Rubin of the Wall Street Journal, a new tax targeting overseas income earned by American technology and pharmaceutical firms may inadvertently fall on other industries operating in high-tax foreign locations. Rubin points to American railroad company Kansas City Southern, which expects to pay this tax, as an example of an unintended payer of the tax on foreign earnings due to certain quirks of the new tax code. WSJ
Nick Timiraos of the Wall Street Journal writes that San Francisco Fed President John Williams is set to become the President of the New York Federal Reserve Bank. Williams, who has a Ph.D. in economics and is responsible for key research on monetary policy, is seen as a complement to new FOMC chair Jerome Powell, who has extensive financial market experience but is not a traditional economist. WSJ